AFL in Germany: "Perfect combination of football and handball, with less diving"

The Australian Football League (AFL) kicked off the new season last weekend. In the coming months, thousands of fans will be cheering on their favourite teams in the stadium, in pubs or at home in front of the TV. The sport, born in Australia, has found its own niche far from its homeland. Major German cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and Munich have embraced 'footy' with passion. To find out more about the German AFL culture, SBS spoke to the captain of the German AFL national team, Florian Naumann. In the interview, he reveals how he got into the sport, how widespread the sport is in Germany and why he prefers playing Australian football to soccer or handball.

Die "German Eagles" flogen 2017 für den AFL Internationals Cup nach Melbourne. Seit 2016 ist Florian Naumann der Kapitän der Nationalmannschaft. Credit: Privat